How to read this: these lines track how the company manages day-to-day cash. Debtor days is how long customers take to pay; inventory days is how long stock sits before selling; days payable is how long the company takes to pay its own suppliers. Fewer debtor and inventory days generally means cash comes in faster; more days payable means the company holds its cash longer. The right level varies a lot by industry, so the trend over time matters more than any single number.
How to read this: return on capital employed (ROCE) shows how much operating profit the company earns from every unit of capital it uses, as a percentage. A higher, steady line over the years suggests the business uses its capital efficiently. As with most ratios, the multi-year trend tells you more than any single year.
| Period | Debtor Days | Inventory Days | Days Payable | Cash Conversion Cycle | Working Capital Days | ROCE % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 37 | 64 | 92 | 9 | -17 | 7 |
| FY2016 | 40 | 70 | 115 | -5 | -39 | 8 |
| FY2017 | 40 | 58 | 117 | -19 | -39 | 13 |
| FY2018 | 43 | 61 | 132 | -29 | -26 | 26 |
| FY2019 | 54 | 73 | 107 | 21 | 12 | 28 |
| FY2020 | 46 | 84 | 123 | 7 | 9 | 21 |
| FY2021 | 34 | 56 | 94 | -3 | -4 | 28 |
| FY2022 | 40 | 62 | 66 | 36 | 30 | 16 |
| FY2023 | 51 | 73 | 75 | 49 | 39 | 11 |
| FY2024 | 53 | 90 | 87 | 57 | 31 | 14 |
| FY2025 | 47 | 70 | 82 | 35 | 25 | 11 |
| FY2026 | 38 | 67 | 100 | 5 | 1 | 14 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.